October 2013

Social media has become an integral part of our lives. Many of us can’t go to bed without checking out the day’s Facebook statuses. During the day, we are Tweeting, Facebook-ing, or Instagramming during our lunches. Not to mention, “checking in” everywhere we go with FourSquare. RSS feeds are linked into our phones, and the second we hear that “ding”, it takes all the willpower we have not to check it immediately. And what about that Starbucks app? You know, the one that rings every time you drive by one?

We are essentially plugged in 24 hours a day. We want to engage and be engaging, and be highly “social”, but only in the privacy of our own homes, wearing our pajamas, watching bad TV, or huddled in our cubicle, not actually speaking or interacting with a live human being in person. We broadcast our lives to the world, yet there are days when we might not actually speak to a person. Not a text. Not a status update. Not a Tweet. You know, with your voice.

What if we took the time to unplug? What if you went to an outing without your phone? What if you actually spoke to real, live people, in a room, maybe with food and beverages? What if we socialized and networked the old-fashioned way?

If networking is really about making connections, there is no greater connection to be made than a face to face conversation. Social media is fantastic and addicting. It is so much easier to text or email than call. And we all know that everyone wants to see pictures of our food, or shoes, or kids (okay, maybe not).

Take the time to socialize and network one on one. Knowing that you aren’t checking your phone and your calendar every five minutes dramatically shifts the intent of personal contact. It makes your client feel special. And really, what if we did this in our personal lives too? Being present at an event you are attending, experiencing the event in the present moment, is often more rewarding that taking that cell phone video.

Do a little experiment. Call one of your clients from a land line. Arrange to meet for coffee, or lunch, or whatever. And then go! Leave your mobile device on your desk. Just walk away and meet that client. Face to face. Eat some food. Drink some coffee. Engage your client and make that connection, for real.

Got a project in mind? We always answer our phone, live, in person.
Give us a call (203) 936-7761.

Portrait Photography

“Call it a day
When night becomes our mad escape
Forgetting the things you mean to say
When all the right words come too late
And everything falls out of place under the pillow
Out of the race, out of the window

Devils on my shoulder

So, so happy
When happiness spells misery
Mister me hoping to be
Where ugliness meets beauty
And if you’ll see the demon in you, the angel in me
The Jesus in you, the Devil in me

Angels on my shoulder

Call it a day
When night becomes our mad escape
Forgetting the things you mean to say
When all the right words come too late
And everything falls out of place under the pillow
Out of the race, out of the window

Devils on my shoulder

So, so happy
When happiness spells misery
And mister me hoping to be
Where ugliness meets beauty
And if you’ll see the demon in you, the angel in me
The Jesus in you, the Devil in me
The demon in you, the Devil’s in me

In 2001, Dr. Marshall Duke and his wife Dr. Sarah Fivush, both of Emory University, devised a quantitative tool for studying several families titled, “Do You Know:” Examples included: Do you know where your grandparents grew up? Do you know where your mom and dad went to high school? Do you know where your parents met? Do you know an illness or something really terrible that happened in your family? Do you know the story of your birth? (New York Times)

What if these narratives could truly be documented in a way that could be shared, from generation to generation, with our own families and beyond? What if multiple family members added to the narrative?

No other time in history have we had the ability to preserve our family photographs and film “in the cloud.” No more worrying about deterioration, yellowing of photographs, or fading of handwritten notes. Today, more and more, families are choosing to film video biographies and autobiographies.

Preserve your family history with video biographies and incorporate family heirlooms such as letters, photographs, documents, family trees, handwritten notes about family members or places of origin, and the filming of family stories told by those who were witnesses. Recording and documenting these family narratives not only brings families together, but is a multimedia documentation for generations to come.

Miceli Productions can help preserve your family memories on video.
Give us a call (203) 936-7761.

Storytelling through Photography

Heard the voice of Jesus say
Come unto me, I am the way.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
When my way gets dark as night,
I know the lord will be my light,
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

You can talk about me much as you please
the more you talk, gonna stay on my knees.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
When I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout
Be nobody there to put me out.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
Hold on
Hold on
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

When I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout
Be nobody there to put me out.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.
I know my robe’s gonna fit me well,
I tried it on at the gates of Hell.
Keep your hand on the plow, hold on.

Before Marian Anderson and Paul Robeson, there was Roland Hayes—the first world-renowned African-American classical vocalist. Born the son of a slave, Roland discovered his voice as a young boy singing spirituals in church. This play chronicles his amazing journey from a plantation in Georgia, to singing before kings and queens in Europe. Breath & Imagination explores the life of an American pioneer through words, movement, spirituals and classical music.

A few days ago, Paul B. Brown, a contributor to Forbes Magazine, published a poignant list: 23 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know. What we found is that a large part of the list was applicable to life, not just entrepreneurs, and it truly is worth sharing. So, whether you are human, or an entrepreneur, or both, here are just a few lessons Mr. Brown has to offer.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

The most important decision you can make is…where you want to spend your time.

Action trumps everything. Stop thinking and get underway.

Take small, smart steps towards your goals.

If you want to build a [something] successful … give up control.

You need to be able to turn every obstacle into an asset. Yes, every single one.

If the dogs don’t like the dog food, it’s bad dog food.

If you are going to fail, and sometimes you will, fail quickly and cheaply.

(Really) Learn from your mistakes.

Creativity and innovation must be linked to a business objective. Creativity is wonderful. But creativity that isn’t tied to making money is just a hobby. It isn’t a viable business concept.

Landscape Photography

“She can’t see the landscape anymore
It’s all painted in her grief
All of her history etched out at her feet
Now all of the landscape, it’s just an empty place
Acres of longing, mountains of tenderness’
Cause she’s just like the weather, can’t hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow

‘Cause it’s burning through the bloodline
It’s cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me

She wants the silence but fears the solitude
She wants to be alone and together with you
So she ran to the lighthouse, hoped that it would help her see
She saw that the lighthouse had been washed out to sea’

Cause she’s just like the weather, can’t hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
‘Cause it’s burning through the bloodline
It’s cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me
I wanna give you back the open sky
Give you back the open sea
Open up the ages, darling, for you to seeYou put the gun into your mouth to bite the bullet and spit out
Cause it’s running in the family
Oh the rich and’Cause she’s just like the weather, can’t hold her together
Born from dark water, daughter of the rain and snow
‘Cause it’s burning through the bloodline
It’s cutting down the family tree
Growing in the landscape, darling, in between you and me”- FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE, LANDSCAPE

Surely, you have used Pinterest. You must have seen the gorgeous photography and amazing ideas for life and business. Or, like us, you have spent hours looking at memes.

If you don’t have a Pinterest account for your business, you may be missing out. Not only do you have the opportunity to showcase your business to a vast audience, but there are some awesome business conversions that can happen if you have a Pinterest account and use it effectively.

1) Pinterest Creates Amazing SEO for Your Website – If you use professional and user-generated photography, engaging descriptions, fitting page descriptions, and add hyperlinks to your business’s website, the backlinks created by Pinterest boost your SEO tremendously. Pinterest verifies accounts and businesses, and is seen as a certified and creditable source, thereby making your business certified and credible too. Not to mention, it drives substantial traffic to your website alone. Imagine if your pin went viral!

2) Pinterest Builds Your Targeted Demographic – Because of the platform itself, it is difficult to stumble upon something you weren’t looking for in the first place. If you are looking for “kids’ organization ideas”, it is unlikely that you will find “cooking for your vegan Pekinese” on the same page. Pinterest is highly categorical. You may find some surprisingly cool stuff, but it is typically in the category you were searching to begin with. Therefore, it inherently is niche. The demographic you want to look at your business will be searching out the categories your business (and Pinterest “pins”) fall under. You will be hitting and expanding within your targeted demographic.

3) Shareability Factor of Pinterest is Immeasurable – Pinterest is a fairly new platform, and it is morphing the social media scenery. People are “liking” pins, “sharing” pins, and “repinning.” The account of origin is always attached to the pin, so people are in essence, aiding in the branding of your business when they share a “pin” from your boards. Pins become mini-commercials and branding opportunities for your business. What you pin, how you pin, and how often you pin speaks to the ways in which you wish your business to be seen by consumers. And because it is such a shareable platform, your pins must be worthy of sharing. Be sure that your pins represent your business in an authentic way. To say a “pin” is worth a thousand words is an understatement.

Last Fall, Miceli Productions was hired by HealthyWage to produce a photo shoot that would capture all the images for their new website. The company offers incentive-based challenges that make weight loss more exciting, focused and accountable. Started 4 years ago by founders David Roddenberry and Jimmy Fleming, HealthyWage has undergone a tremendous amount of growth in the past year. Cue photo shoot and new website launch.

Founder Jimmy Fleming secured New York-based photographer Ryan Scherb to capture images, but wanted to go outside of the city for locations. He then contacted Miceli Productions to coordinate the production management and art direction of the shoot. We immediately got to work casting models, location scouting, hiring hair and make-up stylists and securing permissions to shoot on-location in CT. We also coordinated travel for the models, catering, props, wardrobe and accounting – all the services needed to host a successful shoot on location. The result was a full day photo shoot at Sherwood Island State Park in CT, which gave us great natural backgrounds to work with – the glass enclosed pavilion, the forest near the beach, and the beach, of course!

A big congratulations to HealthyWage on the launch of their new website!

Miceli Productions can help you produce your next photo or video shoot.Got a project in mind? Give us a call (203) 936-7761.

So keep your head up high and dust off your shoulders
It’s alright, no, it’s not over
Love is here, it came to dry up all your tears
Oh, can you feel it
Gotta believe it, gotta see it
By your side in the middle of the night
So keep your head up high and the dust off your shoulders
It’s alright, no it’s not over

So keep your head up high and dust off your shoulders
Coming through your headphones
So keep your head up high and dust off your shoulders
Coming through your headphones

Twinkle, twinkle in your eye
Listen to this lullaby
The sun is shining in the sky
I see love it’s in your eyes

This aint’ the first time you felt like this
This ain’t the first time, this aitn’ the first time
This ain’t the last time you’ll feel like this
But it’ll be fine
If you can just, smile” – BRITT NICOLE, HEADPHONES

Miceli Productions recently worked with the Judy Dworin Performance Project to capture photos for promoting their upcoming show The Witching Hour, a fascinating dance-theater piece depicting women and men accused, tried and convicted of witchcraftin mid 17th-century Connecticut. The piece investigates how fears of difference can turn dangerous and what lessons can be learned today by studying our past ills. More on the historical story and about the project background.

During Halloween week this fall, a newly restaged version of the award-winning, The Witching Hour will be presented on Friday and Saturday November 1st and 2nd at 7:30 p.m. in the Aetna Theater at the Wadsworth Atheneum where the very first incarnation of the piece was seen in 1994! Set in the context of the Puritanical community values of colonial Connecticut, The Witching Hour presents the little known stories of the prejudices and persecutions that resulted in the nation’s earliest witch craze in Hartford. Audiences will have the opportunity to discuss the performance and its themes with the cast in post-show talkbacks.

I was wonderfully impressed by The Witching Hour! Well conceived, beautifully executed, and totally satisfying….(and I am a fussy audience!) ~Brenda Milkofsky, CT River Museum

On Tuesday October 15th at 12:00 noon there will be a sneak preview of the piece at the Old State House, the site where Alyse Young, the first woman accused as a witch was executed in 1647.